By David Crystal

New from Cambridge University Press!

By Peter Mark Roget

This book "supplies a vocabulary of English words and idiomatic phrases 'arranged … according to the ideas which they express'. The thesaurus, continually expanded and updated, has always remained in print, but this reissued first edition shows the impressive breadth of Roget's own knowledge and interests."

This book explores the issue of politeness phenomena and sociallyappropriate behavior in two societies, Mexico and the United States, inthree different contexts: refusing invitations, requests, and suggestions.In addition to a state-of-the-art review of the speech act of refusals innumerous languages, the book provides a rigorous analysis of datacollection methods utilized to examine speech act behavior at theproduction and perception levels. Many examples of native speakerinteractions illustrate the similarities and differences observed in therealization patterns and the perception of refusals by Mexicans andAmericans in formal and informal situations. The data are analyzed in termsof refusal sequences and pragmatic strategies which are strategically usedto carry out relational work during the negotiation of face. The results ofthe quantitative and qualitative analyses are interpreted in light of thenotions of face, politeness, and relational work in Mexico and the UnitedStates. This publication will be of interest to researchers and students inpragmatics and discourse analysis, cross-cultural communication, and sociology.